L.A. Fires: Progress in Southern California containment efforts as winds weaken

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Friday that civic leader Steve Soboroff — a former police commissioner and adviser to late former Mayor Richard Riordan — would lead the city's rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire as chief recovery officer. 

The announcement comes one day after state lawmakers announced new legislative proposals intended to speed up rebuilding and recovery efforts in L.A. County as thousands remain evacuated.   

"Steve Soboroff's name is attached to hope," Bass said. "He will recommend a comprehensive city strategy for rebuilding and for expediting. Expediting is a very important word here. We want to expedite the return of residents, businesses, schools, nonprofits and parks." 

She said no one is better equipped to create a rebuilding plan. 

"He knows our communities. He knows how to activate City Hall. He's been in City Hall." 

Soboroff said he has a 10-point plan that he will initiate on his first day of duty. 

"This is about the victims...It's about restoring community, because without community, people are lost," Soboroff said. 

Read more here.  

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order prohibiting landlords from evicting tenants for sheltering survivors of the Los Angeles-area fires.

"At a time when so many have been suddenly displaced, we need more housing and shelter than ever," Newsom said in a statement. "Opening your place of residence to help shelter those in need is not only encouraged and generous, but deserves to be protected."  

While the order prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for sheltering one or more people displaced by the wildfires, it does not bar them from enforcing other lease terms. Newsom's office described the executive order as a temporary solution as the policymakers craft legislation. It will expire on March 8. 

Read more here. 

An already serious Southern California housing shortage has become dire after the Los Angeles wildfires ravaged the area and destroyed more than 12,000 structures.

Aurielle Hall, a single mother to her 12-year-old daughter Jade, lost her Altadena duplex in the Eaton Fire. They are currently in short-term housing provided by a not-for-profit, but Hall worries she won't be able to afford new housing on her current income. 

Her duplex was about $1,000 below market rent.

L.A. is one of the least affordable major cities in the world, found a report last year. Even before the fires, L.A. needed to build 450,000 affordable housing units by 2029 just to meet demand, according to numbers from L.A. County. On average a new apartment building takes four years to build.  

Read more here.

Despite mandatory evacuation orders, authorities believe hundreds of people are still living in their Altadena homes since the Eaton Fire began to tear through portions of northeast Los Angeles County last week.

Ruslan Abaev and his wife, who have been camping out inside their own home, told CBS News Bay Area that he and others are staying put, not because they want to, but because they feel like they have no choice.

"Because they're not letting people back in. The anxiety and stress, we would just be stressed at the hotel room watching the news. At least here we're trying to do something," Abaev said.

Other residents, like Ana Martinez and her family, don't want to leave because they want to protect their homes from potential looters.

"The looters just...they're nonstop. They keep on asking us, 'Why don't you just go?' Because it seems like, last night we had one, they come onto the property, they come into the home," said Martinez, describing how her family had to chase off a looter just the night before.

Read more here.

A resentencing hearing for Erik and Lyle Menendez has been delayed until March because of the wildfires, Los Angeles' district attorney announced Friday.

The hearing had been scheduled to take place later this month for the brothers' murder convictions in the 1989 killings of their parents.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement that a judge rescheduled the hearing for March 20-21.

Hochman's office said the wildfires had affected preparations for the hearing.

Read more here.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Friday an external investigation will be announced next week into the response to the wildfires.

"Next week, we will be announcing an investigation," Bass told reporters when asked for her response to Angelenos who are disappointed with her leadership. "We need to look back at everything that happened, but, you know, to me, over the last week, the most important thing was to get past the fires, to make sure that on Monday and Tuesday, we're not facing a danger again" when conditions are expected to worsen.

Bass said the investigation will be conducted externally and an internal review was also being conducted.

Andrew Row lost his home in the Palisades Fire. He and his dog Henry moved into the house one year ago and was finally wrapping up renovations when dark smoke began to engulf the entire neighborhood.

"There's only two way out of the Palisades, and it was a gridlock, and I thought I was going to die," Row told CBS News. "So I'd actually called my parents in case I wasn't going to make it out … I just said, 'I love you, and if I don't make this out alive, like, I love you.'"

Row's been dealing with the shock and grief by writing down his thoughts right after evacuating in a journal. He said he's not a victim.

"I mean, I've suffered loss, but having a victim mindset is another thing," Row said. "… It's uprooted my life. I'm not going to wallow in self-pity when I've been blessed so much."

Authorities in Los Angeles County opened up additional areas Friday that were evacuated for the Palisades Fire.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department posted a list of zones where evacuation orders were reduced to warnings or resident-only access. Other zones had restrictions changed to evacuation warnings or returned to normal access.

People can look up their zone on an online map. Proof of residency is required for restricted areas.

Read more here.

The City of Los Angeles' Department of Recreation and Parks announced Friday that it would provide free day camps for children whose families have been affected by the Palisades Fire.

The camps will be open to children aged 5-12 and teens aged 13-17. There will be two locations, each at a recreation center. The camps will open on Monday and run through Friday, Jan. 31. They will operate from 8 a.m. local time until 6 p.m.

The camps will provide age-appropriate programs, including arts and crafts, sports and games. Attendees will receive breakfast, lunch and snacks.

Pictures taken in the aftermath of the Los Angeles-area wildfires show people working to help the region recover. 

Recovery efforts include search and rescue, assessment teams examining destroyed and damaged structures, and city officials helping connect fire victims with resources. 

Victims of Colorado's 2021 Marshall Fire, which destroyed more than 1,000 homes and killed two people, are connecting with victims of the Los Angeles-area fires in an effort to help them as they begin the process of rebuilding.

The fires were similar in how they moved and what they wiped out — and Marshall Fire survivors are looking to share advice with Los Angeles residents who are now navigating insurance and many other challenges as they move forward.

Some survivors in Colorado have been posting in a Facebook group, called From The Mountains to The Beach, to connect survivor to survivor.

Watch the full report from CBS News Los Angeles:

Photos emerging after fires swept across entire neighborhoods show some homes in Malibu still standing among the fire rubble.

Philanthropist and influencer Bethenny Frankel told "CBS Mornings" that her nonprofit organization BStrong is on the ground as wildfire victims begin to return home. The organization is also fundraising for relief efforts. 

Frankel said many fire victims are still grappling with shock and uncertainty. 

"People are traumatized," she said. "They've gone from house proud to homeless in an instant." 

Frankel said the wildfires are especially unique in how they've affected people of varying incomes, creating a sense of class resentment. 

"This has affected the rich and the poor equally, which I don't often see at the same time," she said. "There's a lot of class warfare resentment, because it's become a very public, celebrity, wealthy person's crisis in the media."

Read more here.

Geology and wildfire experts say landslides and mudslides, usually a concern following heavy rainfall, can be triggered by fires that destabilize the ground below. 

"Wildfire increases the susceptibility of steep slopes to landslides and debris flows," the U.S. Geological Survey states.

In January 2018, a month after the 280,000-acre Thomas Fire ripped through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, heavy rain loosened mud and debris in parts of the Santa Ynez Mountains that had been left burn-scarred. Mud and debris flowed from the mountains down south to the community of Montecito, killing 23 people and destroying more than 100 homes.

Mudslides like those in Montecito can happen with very little warning.

But mudslides and landslides in post-fire areas do not necessarily always follow rain, particularly in places with steep slopes and hillsides like the Pacific Palisades, where a home was split by a landslide this week despite no rain falling in the region.  

Topography can make areas especially vulnerable to land movement, according to experts.

Read more here.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is actively investigating 31 missing persons cases related to the wildfires. Seven cases are related to the Palisades Fire, and the remaining 24 are from the Eaton Fire. 

The sheriff's department homicide bureau, which has dedicated its efforts to locating missing individuals, is releasing missing persons bulletins and contacting the families of all active cases.

"These bulletins identify persons who have been reported as a missing person and the bulletins will remain in circulation until the missing person is located or identified by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. This continued effort ensures the public's assistance in locating those missing and supports families awaiting answers," the sheriff's department said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna has said search and rescue teams deploy every day rummaging through debris looking for human remains. Any human remains that are found by search crews are examined by the county medical examiner for identification.

Read more here.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said late Thursday it has restored power to Encino and parts of Brentwood, after it was authorized to reenergize the circuit serving those areas earlier in the day.

Customers in Brentwood that still don't have power are served by circuits that remain on fire hold, LAWPD said, and power cannot be restored until authorities say it is safe to do so.

"As some parts of the City begin transition to long-term disaster recovery, LADWP and our mutual assistance partners from PG&E remain in active fire response," it said. "Local fire authorities may ask LADWP to de-energize power lines to protect public safety so customers may experience new power outages while we support ongoing firefighting efforts."   

Firefighters have contained more of the Eaton and Palisades fires, Cal Fire said Friday morning. 

As of 6:45 a.m. local time, the Eaton Fire is 65% contained. The Palisades Fire is 31% contained. 

It's an increase from just hours earlier, when the Eaton Fire was 55% contained and the Palisades Fire was 27% contained. The Auto Fire in Ventura County remains 85% contained. 

As firefighters continue to contain the wildfires that decimated parts of Southern California, photos taken Thursday show the extent of the damage.

The fires caused significant damage in Altadena and the coastal Pacific Palisades and Malibu neighborhoods. 

UCLA will resume regularly teaching classes in-person on Tuesday and end its "emergency status" today at 5 p.m., according to a message from the university chancellor.

"We are optimistic about how things are trending: emergency responders are making progress in combating the fires, wind speed is diminishing and projections show continued safer air quality on campus," chancellor Julio Frenk said in a message to the university community on Thursday.

"Should conditions shift, we will revisit our plans," he said. "We are not letting our guard down. We will remain vigilant and communicate promptly with you with any important changes."

Frenk said the end of the emergency status technically means remote instruction must end, so in-person instruction will resume this weekend. But he also said the university will "be flexible during this challenging period."

The Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes that have burned in the L.A. area, was 27% contained Friday morning, according to Cal Fire.

That marked improvement from 24 hours earlier, when the department was reporting 21% containment. 

The Eaton Fire remained 55% contained, while the Auto Fire was 85% contained Friday morning.

For thousands of students in the L.A. area, schooling was turned upside down by wildfires. Educators are scrambling to find new locations for their students, develop ways to keep up learning, and return a sense of normalcy as the city grieves.

Third-grader Gabriela Chevez-Muñoz and 400 other students from her school, Palisades Charter Elementary School, started classes temporarily Wednesday at Brentwood Science Magnet, about 5 miles away. Her school and another decimated Palisades elementary campus may take more than two years to rebuild, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said. 

Students from seven other LAUSD campuses in evacuation zones are also temporarily relocating to other schools.

Many schools have held off on resuming instruction, saying their focus for now has been healing, and trying to restore a sense of community. Some are organizing get-togethers and field trips to keep kids engaged in activities and with each other as they look for new space.

The Pasadena Unified School District kept all schools closed this week for its 14,000 students. It offered self-directed online activities but said the work was optional. 

Between 1,200 and 2,000 students in Pasadena Unified School District are known to be displaced but the number could be as high as 10,000 based on heat maps of where families lived, district Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco said Thursday. The district aims to reopen some schools by the end of next week and have all students back in classrooms by the end of the month.

As they figure out their next steps, many wildfire evacuees have relied on shelters to house their pets. But many families lucky enough to head home now are getting to be reunited with them.

Miriam Davenport, the vice president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles, or SPCALA, says it housed around 50-60 pets of wildfire evacuees at its pet adoption center.

It's not clear how many have been reunited with their owners, but Davenport said the center is getting emptier.

Many pets, though, still are waiting to return home. Davenport points out that as pets are reunited, it does help open up space for other families.

Read more.

It's been more than a week since two massive wildfires forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in the Los Angeles area, and officials said Thursday residents won't be going home soon. As the search continues for human remains in leveled neighborhoods, new dangers were emerging, with burned slopes at risk of landslides and the charred debris laden with asbestos and other toxins.

More than 80,000 people are still under evacuation orders, and many don't know what, if anything, is left of their houses, apartments and possessions. Scores have gathered at checkpoints to plead with police and soldiers restricting access to their neighborhoods.

Officials said they understand their frustration, but asked residents for patience as hazardous materials teams and cadaver dogs comb the sites block-by-block. They said it will be a week or more before people can go back.

"The properties have been damaged beyond belief," Los Angeles County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella said at a briefing. "They are full of sediment, debris, silt and hazardous materials."

Hillsides have become unstable behind some damaged homes, and a small landslide in Pacific Palisades this week sent debris into the streets, he added.

As firefighters continued to battle the two largest fires, heartbroken families and owners of burned-out business began to confront another monumental task: rebuilding what was lost.

The scale of the effort will be vast - the area scorched by the major fires is equal to three times the size of Manhattan. It is one of the most devastating natural disasters in Southern California history.

Cal Fire says fake social media accounts are popping up claiming to be from the California agency that are really from scammers asking for donations.

Cal Fire stresses that it "does not solicit donations from the public, either in person or online."

It also points out that all its social media accounts "are verified accounts and have the blue or gray checkmark and are categorized as a Government Organization," adding that the lack of a checkmark means it's not a Cal Fire account."

"While Cal Fire does not request donations," it says, "there are legitimate organizations that support victims affected by disasters, the fire service, and first responders. Anyone wishing to contribute to such organizations are encouraged to thoroughly research them to ensure their validity before making a donation."

Other legitimate organizations accepting donations

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is donating $500,000 to help firefighters and animals forced to flee the deadly wildfires around the region.

Ohtani announced his intention on Instagram, with LA Strong in white lettering against a black background.

"We'll be donating $500,000 to help those firefighters and those forced to live in shelter to help animals in need," he wrote.

The Dodgers and other Los Angeles sports teams are partnering in selling an "LA Strong" collection of T-shirts and sweatshirts, with all proceeds benefiting the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and American Red Cross.

"I hope you all will consider this," Ohtani wrote. 

During the first hours of the Eaton Fire, a group of Pasadena bus drivers headed to the inferno to help evacuate senior living facilities as flames closed in. 

Pasadena Transit operations manager Erasmo Rodriguez was the first to jump into a bus that night and race to a spot where he saw a chaotic scene of facilities on fire while firefighters and nurses gathered residents in wheelchairs and gurneys outside.

The evacuated facilities included The Terraces at Park Marino. The staff used a 7-Eleven parking lot across the street as a staging area to help drivers easily load roughly 95 residents. In addition to the buses, authorities tried to utilize any available vehicles to quickly evacuate residents, including an armored vehicle typically used to transport SWAT officers.

Read more.

A Malibu woman has reunited with the firefighter who rescued her when she got stuck while fleeing the Palisades Fire. 

Patty Phillips was racing to evacuate her home in the Big Rock neighborhood of Malibu last week with her dog, Koda, when she found herself surrounded by smoke and flames that seemed to be closing in on her. 

As she struggled to see through the smoke, she accidentally drove offroad and up a dirt path that was littered with large rocks. Her car ran into a boulder and she got stuck — unable to move any further.   

She began to fear the worst as she and her dog sat trapped inside the car, surrounded by the hellscape of the Palisades Fire. To make matters worse, Phillips had gotten separated from her husband, James, who had already made it down to the Pacific Coast Highway she was struggling to reach. 

"I thought I was gonna die," she told CBS News Los Angeles.

Read more here.

There are 31 missing persons reports under investigation in connection with the Los Angeles area wildfires, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department said Thursday evening.

However, the agency noted that of those cases, the remains of nine people have been recovered from burned structures associated with missing persons reports in the Eaton Fire, and the remains of four others were recovered from burned structures linked to missing persons reports from the Palisades Fire.

Structures connected to 16 of the 31 active cases were searched by deputies and cadaver dogs, the sheriff's office said, but no human remains were found in them.

And two more structures were in the process of being searched, the sheriff's office added.

Human remains that are found are being examined by the L.A. County coroner's office to determine identification.

The coroner's office reported earlier Thursday that the death toll from the fires has risen to at least 27. 

Thousands of structures have been damaged or destroyed by the Los Angeles area firestorm, and now comes the arduous task of making sure fire-ravaged communities are safe, as residents and business owners start to return to survey what, if anything, is left.

"The properties have been damaged beyond belief," said Mark Pestrella, director of Los Angeles County Public Works, at a news briefing. "They are full of sediment, debris, silt and hazardous materials."

Pesticides, fuel and lithium batteries need to be removed, while utility companies are also working on power and gas lines.

Altadena homeowner Aaron Lubeley has already seen his home. 

"You stand there staring like, how am I going to tell my kids that everything is gone?" Lubeley said. "And why didn't God answer my prayers and do this to me?"
 
But many are enduring an agonizing wait, relying on information passed down from damage inspection specialists.

Natasha Fouts with CAL Fire is one of about 145 specialists working the fires in teams of two, assessing up to 40 homes a day.
 
"If it's destroyed, and if it is damaged, then we'll mark it," Fouts said.
 
The data which Fouts gathers is verified and sent to local officials. That information is then used by aid organizations like the Red Cross and FEMA to determine who needs money and housing immediately. It also allows residents to start insurance claims remotely.

She says the impact of her role weighs on her.

"Sometimes the hardest part is just not knowing if you have a home to come down to," Fouts said. "So getting that information out to people I think is really important so that they just know either way."

A false evacuation alert sent to all of L.A. County's approximately 10 million residents on Jan. 9 added to the chaos during the Los Angeles-area wildfires, as many Angelenos were left unsure what to believe.

Many L.A. residents decided to flock to Watch Duty, an app that shows real-time updates and alerts for wildfires in 21 states. The app provides users with easy-to-read maps showing burn areas, evacuation zones, fire cameras and more. It's all sourced from publicly available data and verified by a team of fire fact-checkers.

A not-for-profit, Watch Duty has more than 150 volunteers made up of active and retired first responders, firefighters and dispatchers who monitor radios, scan the internet, and reach out to officials.

Read more here. 

The death toll in the Los Angeles-area wildfires has risen to at least 27 people, the L.A. County Medical Examiner said Thursday. Ten people were killed in the Palisades Fire and 17 people in the Eaton Fire since the destructive blazes started burning on Jan. 7.

CBS News has confirmed the names of 13 of the victims, and the death toll is expected to continue to rise. 

The medical examiner's office said it may take several weeks before the identification of all the victims can be confirmed. 

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department said Thursday there are 24 active missing-person cases in the Eaton Fire area and seven people remain missing in the Palisades Fire area.

Some of music's biggest stars will headline the FireAid benefit concert to help Southern California recover from the devastating wildfires.

Los Angeles native Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Sting and others will perform at the one-night-only concert at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30.

The Los Angeles Clippers will be covering the expenses of the event and proceeds will go to designated beneficiaries.

Tickets will go on sale on Jan. 22 at noon Pacific Time through Ticketmaster.

Read more from CBS News Los Angeles.

Posts about baseless wildfire theories — ranging from celebrity involvement to secret government weapons — have racked up millions of views. 

Despite fact-checking efforts, researchers say conspiracies of this kind regularly emerge after large wildfires. Several conspiracy theories emerged in days following the fire outbreak, including one suggesting governments or secret organizations use lasers or microwave systems to ignite wildfires, claims the weather is manmade, fires were started so the government could use the land for "smart cities," and wildfires are a cover for celebrity crimes.

Read more here.

-Erielle Delzer and Laura Doan

The toll on mental health from the California wildfires can last longer than people realize, experts say. Residents facing devastation are overwhelmed with uncertainties of the future and feelings of loss, grieving their homes, memories, businesses and loved ones. And many who fared better are dealing with competing emotions like gratitude of survivor's guilt along with grief. 

Dr. David Eisenman, a mental health expert at UCLA specializing in research related to public health and natural disasters told CBS News some residents may not even recognize they're dealing with mental health problems.

Read more here.

-Sara Moniuszko, Tracy J. Wholf

A resident in Altadena returned to his block and found his house was the only one still standing after the Eaton Fire tore through his neighborhood, destroying other houses on the block.

"Why do I deserve this?" Enrique Balcazar asked in a social media video. "I don't know. I don't think I deserve it, but God bless everybody else with plenty of insurance to rebuild."

Authorities in the Los Angeles area reopened some communities Thursday that had been evacuated as the Palisades Fire raged.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said only residents would be allowed to access the newly opened areas. People trying to access the areas need to bring a government-issued ID with them, the sheriff's department said.

"If your address on your ID has not been updated to match the evacuated zone, you will need to bring additional proof of residency," the sheriff's department said. "Acceptable documents in this case include a recent utility bill, mortgage documents, property deed, or any other similar proof of ownership or residency."

The sheriff's department directed people to check an online map to see if their home is within the reopened areas. Those areas are:

• Zone TOP-U001: North of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and South of Mulholland Dive
• Zone TOP-U002: North of Old Topanga Canyon Road and South of Summit to Summit Motorway
• Zone DRY-U026-A: North of Mulholland Highway and South of Stokes Canyon Road
• Zone RRC-U027-A: North of Red Rock Road and South of Calabasas Peak Motorway

The reopening was effective as of noon local time. Other evacuation orders and road closures remain in effect.

Maya Richard-Craven describes herself as "six generations Pasadena" because her family planted roots in the area roughly a century ago and has lived there ever since. Richard-Craven's relatives are involved to such an extent in local organizations, social clubs and volunteer groups, that, she said, taking a walk in nearby Altadena often means being waved down by someone who recognizes her mom.

"This is a history that is deep," Richard-Craven told CBS News.

Many of the families displaced by the Eaton Fire that erupted last week are people she knows personally. Her cousin's house was burned, as was her great-aunt's — where Richard-Craven herself also lived until recently.

"About 30 people I know lost their homes," she said. Richard-Craven only returned to Los Angeles on Wednesday after evacuating and has not been able to visit Altadena since the fire, but she fears the neighborhood centers where the city's Black community historically thrived are now gone.

"I never thought I'd see something like this in my lifetime, and I'm absolutely devastated," she said. "So many people we know have nothing."

Editor's Note: This post has been updated to clarify that Maya Richard-Craven's family has lived in Pasadena for six generations.

SoCalGas, which says it is the nation's largest natural gas distribution utility servicing over 21.1 million consumers, says it is "working tirelessly to restore service" to areas impacted by the wildfires "as quickly and safely as possible."

"We will have mutual assistance arriving in the coming days to help support restoration efforts," the company said on X.

As of 8 a.m. Thursday morning, the company was reporting more than 16,000 outages related to the Eaton Fire and over 13,000 linked to the Palisades Fire.

"Since Jan. 7, SoCalGas has worked around the clock in close coordination with first responders to safely secure natural gas infrastructure, assess the impacts of the fires, make necessary repairs, and begin restoring service to customers," the company said on its website.

The latest photos taken on Thursday show how the Rose Bowl stadium has been converted into a makeshift city utilized by thousands of personnel battling the Eaton Fire.

After being on the front lines, crews come back to what looks like a mass campsite to recharge. They have barracks for sleeping and there are showers and food for first responders.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Thursday there are "multiple reasons" why authorities cannot let people into the Palisades and Eaton fire areas as search and rescue operations continue in both areas.

"We still have a variety of work and structures to go through," he said. "But even as we're going through some of these grids, there are areas that we are holding because we believe there may be deceased victims there."

"We have to hold for the right time and the right resources to process the scene correctly, and that's going to take a little while," Luna said.

He said authorities "know people want to get back into their neighborhoods, but we're talking about people who have passed." 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday concerning housing for those displaced by the L.A.-area fires.

"As thousands of Los Angeles residents have been faced with sudden displacement, the state is taking decisive action to help provide housing and assistance as quickly as possible," Newsom said in a news release. "Today, we are expediting the creation of new temporary housing by removing roadblocks and strengthening protections against exploitation."

The order extends a ban on price gouging for hotel, motel and rental housing in Los Angeles County to March 8, and aims to make it easier to have temporary trailers on properties while residents rebuild, among other measures. 

The deadline for people affected by the Los Angeles-area fires to apply for FEMA assistance is March 10. 

People can apply after filing a claim with their insurance company. Applications can be made by phone at 800-621-3362 or by visiting DisasterAssistance.gov. 

"If you need additional support or would like help uploading documents, you should visit a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) to apply for assistance and learn about resources from FEMA and other state organizations to aid you in your recovery," FEMA says.

Two DRCs were open in Los Angeles County as of Tuesday and more are expected to open in the coming weeks.

More information is available on FEMA's website.

Authorities are searching for 36 people reported missing in the fires. Five were reported missing on Wednesday, with four in the Eaton Fire area and one near the Palisades, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. That brings the total of missing individuals in the county to 31.

Eight others are technically missing in the city's territory, said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. Three are believed to be dead, and five are unaccounted for. 

Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley urged people to "remain ready" for another round of powerful winds that could potentially move through the region early next week.

"There are more extreme winds on the horizon," Crowley said, referencing the Santa Ana winds possibly forecast to arrive Monday and Tuesday. "It is important that you protect yourselves and your family by planning, preparing and staying aware."

Addressing L.A. residents whose neighborhoods have not been impacted by the current fires, Crowley added that "flying embers from a wildfire can destroy homes over a mile away." Taking steps to prepare ahead of time could increase the chances of a home surviving a wildfire, the fire chief said. 

Los Angeles County authorities confirmed two additional deaths tied to the wildfires Wednesday, said Sheriff Robert Luna. Search and rescue teams discovered one of the deceased in the Eaton Fire area and the other in the Palisades Fire area.

"We continue to work with multiple partners, not only in the recovery of remains, but then ultimately the identification of the deceased and then the notification to the next of kin," Luna said at a news conference.

He said crews probing the fire damage believe they will find more remains as search operations continue and are maintaining evacuation orders around sites where the remains may be.

"As we're going through some of these grids, there are areas that we are holding because we believe there are deceased victims there," Luna said. "We have to hold for the right time and the right resources to process the scene correctly, and that's going to take a little while. Please be patient with us." 

There are 82,400 people under mandatory evacuation orders Thursday in Los Angeles County, said Sheriff Robert Luna at a news conference. Another 90,440 are under evacuation warnings.

"Please keep up with the information we're putting out because that could change," said Luna. "Hopefully for the better, but we'll see what happens." 

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said 47 arrests have been made so far amid the fires in the areas the department covers.

Most of those arrests — 36 — were made in the Eaton Fire area, while 11 were made in the Palisades Fire area, he said.

Luna urged people who "don't belong" in fires zones to "not go there," and said a 6 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew remains in effect for the areas. 

The last 24 hours has seen "little to no fire growth" in the L.A.-area wildfires, although the Palisades Fire is an exception, an official said at a news conference Thursday morning. Several interior pockets in the Palisades Fire are burning. 

The Palisades Fire was 23,713 acres, with 22% containment as of Thursday morning. 

Crews are steadily working to contain three wildfires in Los Angeles County and one in Ventura on Thursday. Another blaze, the Little Mountain Fire, broke out Wednesday in San Bernardino and spread over 34 acres. Cal Fire said the Little Mountain Fire stopped growing hours after it started, but none of it is contained as of Thursday morning.

The Palisades Fire in western L.A. has burned 23,713 acres, and 22% is contained, according to Cal Fire. On the other side of the county, the Eaton Fire covers 14,117 acres with 55% containment. Firefighters have also contained 98% of the Hurst Fire, at 799 acres. Those blazes haven't expanded in several days.

In Ventura County, firefighters have contained 85% of the Auto Fire, which broke out Monday and covers 61 acres, Cal Fire said. 

Los Angeles burn zones are facing a new threat: landslides. 

One Pacific Palisades home that survived the Palisades Fire was later split in half by a landslide, CBS News Los Angeles' Rick Montanez reported. Video of the damage shows the structure of the ranch-style house cracked vertically from the roof to its base, with one side sliding down the hill where the home stood.

It was unclear when exactly the landslide occurred.

The one-bedroom home had been listed as a 1,000-square-foot rental on Zillow just over two months ago, going for $14,000 a month.

While no rain is in the forecast, mudslides and debris flows are among the concerns for fire-stricken communities when rain eventually does arrive. 

The National Weather Service said Thursday that the "nine-day wind siege has finally ended," offering relief to the fire-torn Los Angeles region. This comes after a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" red flag warning expired Wednesday evening. 

The region will now see a "significant cooling trend through the weekend," according to the weather service. Humidity levels will rise, alleviating the dry conditions that helped fuel the spread of wildfires over the past week. 

"By Thursday afternoon, a solid onshore flow will be arriving along the coast and working its way inland through the rest of the day, finally bringing this long offshore stretch to an end."   

For Friday and the weekend, much cooler temperatures are expected.

A map from Cal Fire shows the wildfires burning in Southern California as of the department's latest update.

The map shows the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Auto and Little Mountain fires.

Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, donated $15 million to wildfire recovery efforts and organizations currently supporting the communities impacted. The funds are particularly focused on providing assistance in Altadena, where the deadly Eaton Fire originated and caused significant damage.

"We love L.A. and are committed to supporting the communities affected by the devastating wildfires," Steve and Connie Ballmer said in a statement released Wednesday through the Ballmer Group, a philanthropic organization. "In coordination with our local partners, Ballmer Group will contribute to addressing immediate food and shelter needs in the community and supporting our first responders."

Ballmer Group shared a list of organizations and relief initiatives that will receive portions of the donation.

While most red flag warnings that were issued for parts of Southern California have expired, red flag warnings for the Santa Susana Mountains, western San Gabriel Mountains and the I-5 Corridor remain in effect until 3 p.m. local time Thursday.

"Offshore Santa Ana winds will continue to diminish for the majority of the area, however winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 40 mph will continue into Thursday afternoon for the Western San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Susana Mountains, and I-5 Corridor," the National Weather Service said.

The weather service says "things are starting to look better in terms of the forecast across California and the areas that have been devastated by the ongoing wildfires."

"Even though no rain is in the forecast, the winds are expected to switch to a more onshore flow late Thursday and into Friday, bringing higher relative humidities and less chaotic wind flow, thus helping to mitigate the wildfire threat compared to recent days," it says.

As some evacuees from the Eaton and Palisades fires began returning home this week after their neighborhoods were decimated by wildfires, health officials warned there was still plenty cause for concern. 

Air quality and safety are top-of-mind for returnees. 

"Our house is standing," said Zoe Kahn, who had to flee from her Pasadena home. "But, there's significant smoke damage."

"We are having our house professionally cleaned, and then hiring an industrial hygienist to assess any toxins that are in the home still so that we can make sure it's safe for us to move back in," she said. 

The Kahns are among many families concerned about what they can't see and dangerous chemicals that may remain. 

"We do not emphasize enough that you are breathing in particles that you cannot see," said Jane Williams, the Executive Director of the California Communities Against Toxics during a webinar with air quality and public health experts on Wednesday. "The air quality index does not tell you they're there. But when you breathe them in, even for relatively short periods of time, they get lodged inside your lungs and have enormous public health impacts."

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